Comet to pass by Earth closely after meteor shower

By Ben Brumfield, CNN

Updated 4:39 PM ET, Sat May 24, 2014

Photographers catch glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower7 photos

Glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower – Many are grumbling that the Camelopardalids meteor shower was a dud, but some photographers had a chance to see burning fireballs streaking the night sky. iReporter Cat Connor says there were dozens of photographers camped out on Mono Lake in California, hoping to see the meteor shower.

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Photographers catch glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower7 photos

Glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower – Jean-Francois Gout had only one word to describe the Camelopardalids meteor shower: "Disappointing!" He said he did manage to photograph a few meteors from Lake Monroe in Indiana.

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Photographers catch glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower7 photos

Glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower – Tracey Choulat stood outside Pierson, Florida, watching for the Camelopardalids meteor shower. After waiting for three hours, he jokingly renamed it a "meteor sprinkle."

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Photographers catch glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower7 photos

Glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower – Ed Baumgarten had his camera running for three hours in Stewardson, Illinois, hoping to catch many images of the meteor shower. He photographed a few streaks in the sky, but says the celestial event didn't live up to the hype.

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Photographers catch glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower7 photos

Glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower – Garet Foote was in Big Rapids, Michigan, watching the skies for the much anticipated Camelopardalids meteor shower. He says it was underwhelming, but he's looking forward to photographing upcoming meteor showers in the future.

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Photographers catch glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower7 photos

Glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower – Jason Walle was photographing the meteor shower in Cashiers, North Carolina, and says it was a bust in terms of the number of sightings. "Despite that, it was pretty amazing to see it since it was the first shower for this comet," he said.

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Photographers catch glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower7 photos

Glimpses of Camelopardalids meteor shower – Astrophotographer Barry Shupp was hoping to get photos of the meteor shower from Hustontown, Pennsylvania. Instead, he had a chance to photograph the International Space Station while also catching a meteor passing by overhead.

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Story highlights

May Camelopardalids meteor shower dazzles some, bores others

But it's connected to a comet making a rare close pass by Earth, NASA says

You can see 209P/LINEAR with a telescope

Or you can catch it online at observatory service Slooh

So after all the hype, was the lost sleep and the sore necks from looking at the sky worth it?

People throughout North America could ask that question Saturday, hours after witnessing a unique meteor shower that was visible in the middle of the night.

Judging from social media responses, this cosmic event appeared to have little bang in some places, while delivering a few prize goods elsewhere.

But for die-hard star geeks, there will be an Act II, an even bigger treat, as the last part of the shower -- a comet -- passes by Earth, beginning Saturday evening.

Whatever the verdict, there will probably never be a second chance for the May Camelopardalids meteor shower. Many showers come annually, in October, December, January and April, said NASA meteor observer Bill Cooke.

Capturing the Orionids – Determined to experience his first meteor shower undisturbed by cloudy skies, Robbie López drove out to Chester, Virginia, to photograph the Orionids.

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Capturing the Orionid meteor shower9 photos

Capturing the Orionids – Kevin Lewis stayed up late and braved cold weather just so he could experience the serenity of watching the Orionids from North Wales.

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Capturing the Orionid meteor shower9 photos

Capturing the Orionids – Robbie López stood out in a remote field in Chester, Virginia, to photograph the Orionid meteor shower.

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Capturing the Orionid meteor shower9 photos

Capturing the Orionids – Mike Black photographed the Orionids at 5:00 a.m. from Belmar, New Jersey. "It is worth it to see this natural phenomenon. I am always excited when I see one, it never gets old or boring or tiring," he said.

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Capturing the Orionid meteor shower9 photos

Capturing the Orionids – As a science teacher, Mike Black says he has always been a fan of meteor showers. "They remind us that we live on a small rocky world with other bits of rock flying around space," he said.

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Capturing the Orionid meteor shower9 photos

Capturing the Orionids – Using a Canon 5D Mark II camera, Mike Black photographed the Orionid meteor shower early Sunday morning. "When one of those bits of rock enters our atmosphere, it burns up and we get to enjoy a meteor shower. It's just one of nature's spectactular shows," he said.

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Capturing the Orionid meteor shower9 photos

Capturing the Orionids – Bill Vaughn says he always enjoys watching a meteor shower with his wife, especially because they never know what to expect. He photographed the Orionids from Mount Lemmon, Arizona.

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Capturing the Orionid meteor shower9 photos

Capturing the Orionids – Hans-Dieter Fleger photographed the Orionid meteor shower from the foot of Mount Gaustatoppen in Stavsro, Norway, early Sunday morning.

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EXPAND GALLERY

The biggest planet in the solar system bent the meteors' orbit with its powerful gravitational pull so that they would collide with Earth.

"Next year, it will tug the debris field away from the Earth, and we won't see a meteor shower, so this is kind of a one-shot deal," Cooke said.

Rare comet pass

The debris field derives from the coming comet, which bears the uninspiring name 209P/LINEAR.

Astronomers have stopped coming up with fancy nomenclature for the hundreds of comets they spot and instead give each new one a number and the name of the project that discovered it.

LINEAR stands for Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research.

Jupiter will fling the comet our way, too, causing it to fly by our planet at a distance of 5 million miles.

"A comfortable distance, which is good," Cooke said. Its core is 1 to 2 miles wide, and a direct hit to Earth would be disastrous.

Even though 209P/LINEAR passes by every five years while orbiting the sun, this time around it will offer a rare sight to hobby astronomers.

"The comet normally doesn't pass this close," Cooke said.

Anyone with a consumer model 3-inch-reflector telescope should be able to see it in the north sky late Wednesday, if the heavens are clear.

But it served up some anticlimax, too. A few netizens called it a complete bust.

CNN iReporter Jean-Francois Gout had only one word to describe the event: "Disappointing."

Gout stayed up for more than seven hours to watch the much anticipated meteor shower from Lake Monroe near Bloomington, Indiana.

Despite the poor showing, Gout still managed to photograph a few passing meteors overhead. But the night was not a complete loss. "It was a great excuse to spend the night out in a remote area with some good friends and enjoy the night and the first fireflies of the season, which sometimes we would think for a fraction of a second were meteors," he said.

She photographed the meteor shower over Mono Lake in California, and she wasn't alone. There were dozens of other photographers camped out at the lake hoping to catch a glimpse of Camelopardalids. "There were many photographers there. All you could see were the lights of their cameras scattered around the lake," she wrote.

"Guess anyone who invited someone on a date to watch the 'meteor shower' is looking like a pretty big creep right about now," New Yorker Kevin Depew tweeted.